Murder accused 'seen leaving house with gun'

A Cavan man accused of murder was seen leaving the victim’s house with a gun, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Trevor McCabe (aged 34), Mountpleasant, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan has pleaded not guilty to murdering Darren McGrath (aged 33) in Belturbet, Co Cavan on May 20 last year.

It is the prosecution’s case that Mr McCabe shot Mr McGrath as he slept.

Patrick McKiernan (aged 33) told the court that he has known the accused since secondary school.

The court heard that Mr McKiernan spent May 19 last year with the accused and that they drank that evening on Mr McCabe’s boat on Lough Erne, near Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.

Mr McKiernan said that they left the boat “several hours” after sunset. Mr McCabe drove to Belturbet and they “ended up at Darren McGrath’s house.”

He said that he woke up when the car stopped.

Mr McCabe went into the house and Mr McKiernan got out a “little while” after, the court heard.

“I thought there was a party on in Darren’s house,” he said. He followed the accused into the house.

Mr McKiernan told the court that he heard the deceased’s partner, Nicole Lennon, screaming.

"I met Trevor on the stairs. He said, ‘Get out.’ We both left then.”

Mr McKiernan said that he saw Mr McCabe with a “short shotgun” when they were leaving the house.

He got into the car with Mr McCabe and they drove out of the estate, the court heard.

During cross-examination, Mr McKiernan told Peter Finlay SC, defending, that he did not see Mr McCabe wearing a mask when he came out of the victim’s house.

Previous witnesses have told the court that they saw a man wearing a scarf around his neck leaving the house.

Mr McKiernan agreed with Mr Finlay that there were “a lot of gaps in his recollection” of the events of that morning.

Earlier, Leon Frahill told the court that he spent the weekend before the alleged murder with Mr McGrath, a friend of his.

They travelled to a motorcycle rally in Portrush and, en route, met the accused, the court heard.

Mr Frahill said that the accused had a “rather bad limp.”

Mr Frahill stayed in Mr McGrath’s house the night before the alleged murder.

He said he woke up to a loud noise, a scream and then another loud noise. He heard “scurrying down the stairs” and looked out the window.

Mr Frahill said that he saw two men running away from the house.

He said that he “recognised” the second person to be Mr McCabe as he was “running away from the house with a distinct limp” and was “wearing the same clothes as the weekend”.

The trial resumes on Monday